Prof. Byron Baron, a member of the Centre of Molecular Medicine and Biobanking has been elected as one of the council members of the Human Proteome Organisation (HUPO) following a global election in September. The term of office runs from 2024 to 2026.
is an international scientific organisation promoting the development and application of proteomics technologies for human related research as well as supporting international collaboration. This is a great opportunity for the country and UM, since Malta is probably one of the few countries that despite doing proteomics research does not have local proteomic facilities or a national proteomics society and thus relies on collaboration in order to perform all kinds of proteomics-based research.
Two UM projects that benefited from such collaboration are the proteomic analysis of dopaminergic neurons generated from mesenchymal stem cells and the analysis of colorectal cancer organoids following the development of chemoresistance. As a small country with limited resources on the HUPO Council, this will bring the perspective forward for those researchers who have great ideas and drive to do proteomic research but are held back due to limited resources and networks. This will also provide better opportunities for Malta to establish itself as a Mediterranean partner in proteome-based healthcare research.
